Propulsion-By-Wire Technology

First there was “Fly By Wire”… now there is “Propulsion By Wire”!

SixCrossPoint Technologies is developing a suite of technologies to enable safe, reliable, and airworthy electric and hybrid electric flight.  These technologies are based on applying the redundancy management and fault-isolation/fault-tolerant design techniques of “Fly By Wire” technology to the new field of electric aircraft propulsion.  We call the resulting system “Propulsion By Wire” (1).

“In Fly-By-Wire all the aircraft flight-control authority passes through the “wires” instead of through mechanical systems.  With electric propulsion we are doing the same thing for the vehicle propulsion power.  Instead of flowing through mechanical connections—pressures, air foils, pistons, and shafts—the propulsion power will flow through wires from the energy source to the propulsion units.  The same design principles that make Fly-By-Wire more reliable than mechanical flight controls will make Propulsion-By-Wire safer and more reliable than conventional propulsion.” – Mike Rowley, Vice President of Engineering, SixCrossPoint Technologies. 

•